Super Size Me

My father has a sattelite dish with an incredible number of channels, along with a DVD burner. So when I was in Birmingham for Thanksgiving, I gave him a whole list of movies to record for me. The first installment came the other day, and on it was the movie "Super Size Me."

For those not familiar with the movie, it is about a guy who decides to eat at McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 30 days straight. Nothing but McDonalds - all day long. The experiment is done to see what kind of effects it has on his health.

In 30 days, he gained 27 pounds, almost destroyed his liver, over doubled his cholesterol and became extremely depressed, along with having little energy. He also displayed addictive tendencies towards the McDonalds food he was eating.

The doctors were amazed at what kind of reaction his body had to a high-fat diet. They said it was similar to someone being an alcoholic, and that they would never have guessed it would have had such an effect.

I had several realizations watching the movie. One was when they showed how many McDonald's there are in Manhattan, and I realized I don't know where a single one is. Since starting to keep kosher, my attention to such things has dropped drastically. I can tell you that there is a Quiznos sub shop a little way down the street from my office, but that is the only restaurant I can name.

I also have realized over the years that keeping kosher keeps me from eating a lot of junk. Whenever my coworkers bring food into the office, cakes, danishes, pizza, I can't have it, which is definitely a good thing. I get enough junk food as it is, it would be really bad if I could eat everything I am offered on a daily basis.

And the final thing I realized from the movie, is that I need to do something about my diet. I am always tired these days, which I blame on not getting enough sleep, which I am sure is a factor. But I have decided to try to eat healthier, omit caffeine from my diet, get lots of fruits and vegetables and less carbs, and see what happens. Hopefully, I will feel better and have more energy. Wish me luck!

(Funny note - I just realized there is a McDonald's right next door to where I work. I really don't pay attention!)